CSB Working Paper, 2018, 17: Social Security and Poverty Reduction in Rich Welfare States : Cracks in the Post War Policy Paradigm, Avenues for the Future

Has the most powerful poverty reducing instrument at welfare state’s disposal, become less effective? And if so, why? This paper will argue that there are no unequivocal answers to these questions. For that matter, differences across rich welfare states are far too big. However, we posit that along with the great variation in national experiences, changes in family, employment and wage structures have affected the poverty reducing capacity of social security at a systemic level. As a consequence…

Has the most powerful poverty reducing instrument at welfare state’s disposal, become less effective? And if so, why? This paper will argue that there are no unequivocal answers to these questions. For that matter, differences across rich welfare states are far too big. However, we posit that along with the great variation in national experiences, changes in family, employment and wage structures have affected the poverty reducing capacity of social security at a systemic level. As a consequence, although retrenchment has certainly not been the general rule, in many countries poverty among households that are most dependent on social protection increased significantly. This raises the question of how progress can be made in a future that looks bleaker than the past.